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Describes essential data related to the current version of the titular software

Describes essential data related to the current version of the titular software

Vote: (68 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Realtech VR

Version: 2.11-build-177

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(68 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Realtech VR

2.11-build-177

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Straightforward, clean design.
  • Performs well and uses limited resources, as it should.

Cons

  • Of little use or potential interest to most people.
  • Even the intended audience may find it easier to dig up the conveyed information in other ways.

The OpenGL Extension Viewer is a simple utility for examining the capabilities of installed OpenGL graphics card drivers. Unlike the competing Direct3D standard, OpenGL is designed to be freely extensible, meaning that graphics card vendors continually add new features to their drivers that are not supported in the standard itself. These additional capabilities are typically exposed and accessed through a facility known as the OpenGL extension, and this utility allows users to find out just which of these their own cards and drivers support.

For most users, this information will be of little use. The main purpose of the utility is displaying strings along the lines of "GL_EXT_vertex_array" that will strike most as little more than gibberish. It does also provide more basic and widely comprehensible information like that relating to display resolutions, but these facts can typically be discovered through other, less focused, means, as well.

For developers and those with an interest in graphics card and driver technology, however, the OpenGL Extension Viewer will be anything from a highly useful tool to a subject of some interest. Those writing their own games and 3d programs of other sorts will enjoy having the ability to quickly query particular graphics cards and driver installations for their capabilities, something that can also be done in a straightforward manner from within program code. PC enthusiasts in general might find that the in-depth information provided by this tool serves as an interesting window into a subject they might wish to study more deeply, too.

Considerations about the intended audience aside, the OpenGL Extension Viewer is a fairly well-made program. It is, in truth, a simple one, too, as it more or less just reports the results of sending a series of well-understood queries to a system's graphics card driver. In other words, it is merely reporting in a simple text form some hidden values that are not exposed by default because of their very specific nature and intended use. For some of those who do have such a use, the program will be of great interest, while others will likely want to ignore it.

Pros

  • Straightforward, clean design.
  • Performs well and uses limited resources, as it should.

Cons

  • Of little use or potential interest to most people.
  • Even the intended audience may find it easier to dig up the conveyed information in other ways.